Donald Trump says China to cut tariffs on US cars after trade war truce

China has agreed to “reduce and remove” tariffs below the 40 percent level currently in place on US-made vehicles, US President Donald Trump has said, after the two countries agreed a trade war ceasefire.

In a Tweet on Sunday night, Trump said: “China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40%”.

He gave no further details and there was no immediate response from the Chinese government.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to halt new tariffs during talks in Argentina on Saturday, following months of escalating tensions on trade and other issues.

During the meeting in Buenos Aires, the US agreed not to increase tariffs on January 1, as had been planned, while China agreed to immediately buy more agricultural products from US farmers.

The two sides also agreed to start discussions on other contentious issues, including intellectual property protection, non-tariff trade barriers and cyber theft.

If no broader deal is reached within 90 days, the US said it would hike tariffs on $200bn of Chinese goods from 10 to 25 percent.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said last week that he was examining all available tools to raise US tariffs on Chinese vehicles to the 40 percent level that China was charging on US-made vehicles.

Chinese state media on Monday cautiously welcomed the trade war truce on Monday, without mentioning the US January 1 deadline.

In an editorial, the official China Daily said the new “consensus” was a welcome development but warned there was no “magic wand” that could make grievances disappear.

Asian stock markets opened higher on Monday in the wake of the truce, with Tokyo rising by one percent and Hong Kong and Shanghai rising by more than two percent.